TJs Burritos — Restaurant in East Granby

A friend of mine works here and has been inviting me to come check them out! Today is that day so here's how it went! There was also a Yelp Elite Event here that I was about 4 weeks late for, so I came with some other folks who also missed the event! Lol.

Atmosphere/Appearance: Set out in East Granby, CT is this gem that lies within a lil' strip mall. The outside does this place no justice, but I'm sure if they had their own standalone building it would be done-up. Anyway, INSIDE is where all the fun is! There's so much going on no matter where you look. Once inside you can walk up to a counter to order fresh ground coffee in or some of their other baked goods. Off to the left of that is the kitchen and instructions on how to order your burrito if you want one of those. On the left side of the restaurant is a small stage for when they host live music! And finally, toward the back we have the big wrap-around bar. It was so lively and energetic here on a Friday afternoon.

Service: Everything was excellent. I had no complaints and didn't want for anything.

Food: The complimentary chips and salsa were very good. The salsa was super fresh and bursting with flavors. The chips were thick, crunchy and also tasted fresh. One of the funniest things about the restaurant is the amount of menus you're given when you first sit down. Lol. I received 4, one for flights, one for beer, one for happy hour and their menu of the season. It was a lot to look through, but if you have an idea of what you're looking for or have a taste for then it'll help with decision making. The margaritas I had were all a bit sweet, so I advise adding an extra shot to each one that you get. So for my entree I HAD to get a burrito. They offer several different kinds of wraps and I went with the keto wrap to up my fiber. I also added smoked chicken and carne asada as proteins. Then I added lettuce, tomato, poblano peppers and sauteed onions. It doesn't come with a side, so make sure to get one if you're really hungry, but the chips & salsa can cover that for you. The burrito was delightful. So I did get chicken and steak, but the proteins were on opposite sides of the burrito, making eating it easier and less confusing on the flavors. I loved how this was done.

Value: It's mid-class Mexican food so it won't break the bank. $20.00 can satisfy you here, but if you're a drinker, you're going to need a bit more. Lol.

In conclusion, I loved it here and this place felt so unique. It felt like one-of-a-kind and not like a cookie-cutter restaurant. You know what I'm talking about. I look forward to returning here, even though it's a bit...

In town on business and stopped by for lunch. Maybe we're spoiled in Georgia because almost all our food has more seasoning than they could carry on a cargo ship during the spice trade, but I swear the further north we drove, the more the flavor just packed its bags and dipped.

The staff? Super nice—bless their hearts. The food? Less “authentic Mexican” and more “Pinterest-inspired taco night gone rogue". The chips were completely unsalted, like someone was trying to spare our arteries. And the salsa? If 2 tablespoons of Pico de Gallo counts as salsa now, I’ll need a hug.

We ordered two street tacos and chicken fajitas. Instead, we got a mystery entrée served on a bed of black beans and mushrooms (?). I don’t know whose abuela makes fajitas with mushrooms, but I’ve got questions. And when the tacos showed up; one dry, cold white corn tortilla doing all the heavy lifting. At home, street tacos come doubled up on grilled yellow corn tortillas like they know what’s at stake.

The smoked chicken taco was lukewarm, and the seasoning was so subtle it might’ve been imaginary, pretty sure the "smoke" was from the bottled smoke flavoring you get at the grocery store. The “ancho beef” looked like it came straight from a boxed taco kit— ground beef, orange grease and all, with no shredded meat or green ancho chiles to be found. To top it off, literally and metaphorically, I'm pretty sure the cotija cheese was just Parmesan crumbles, and the fajita "Monterey" cheese was shredded mozzarella. I'd give it a pass if it was mozzarella's cousin Oaxaca, but I eat enough cheese to send a lactose intolerant person to the hospital, so I know the difference.

The one upside? My mom was a fan of store-bought taco kits, so at least I was emotionally prepared for the "ancho beef". Maybe it's the tariff and immigration policies rearing their heads, which gives me another reason to hate the new administration. Moral of the story: find someone’s abuela, beg her to adopt you, or do yourself a favor and head down South, where we don’t play when it...

It was our first time going and was crowded when we showed up. We were told the wait would be 15-20 minutes, which turned in to about 25. Okay not a huge deal. Then it took 30 minutes for a server to even acknowledge us. Not good. It didn’t help that we got seated right next to the door that slammed shut loudly every time someone went in or out. We were annoyed while being ignored by the waitstaff and it just got compounded every time that door loudly slammed shut. They should really loosen up the spring in the door closing mechanism so it stops loudly slamming every single time.

At least the girl who was in charge of chips and salsa was on top of her game. We went through 3 rounds of chips and salsa while impatiently waiting. Eventually we all ordered drink flights and our meals (since we had so long to think about it while waiting for our server). The food came fairly quickly, but we didn’t have our drinks until we were almost done with our food. Not good. I ordered a burrito with pork. The pork was dry but otherwise it was fine. My wife ordered fish tacos and thought they were good. Our friends seemed to think their food was fine but nothing to get excited about.

3 of us got the margarita flight and the consensus was that is was fine, but not great. The classic margarita was a bit too tart, and the coconut one did not taste like a margarita whatsoever. Our other friend got the coffee flight, which she generally thought was too sweet. It was a bit awkward when she went to order and the server had to tell her that the current version of the flight was entirely different than the sign they had by the door. Don’t have a sign listing the different drinks in the flight if you can’t keep it updated.

To summarize, the food was probably in the 2-3 star range. But the service we received and overall experience was just so bad that I have to give only 1 star. We won’t...